DataArt announced expansion of its London office with the appointment of Mike Brett as VP of Business Development and Sales for Europe. In his new role, Mr. Brett will focus on further strengthening DataArt's Capital Markets practice, which has grown by 15% in 2009.
While Capital Markets industry has stabilized and largely returned to growth, the need to do “more with less” is as strong as ever, and DataArt’s offering fits the niche for innovative, cost-efficient bespoke solutions in the areas of risk management, portfolio analytics, trade capture, settlement and reconciliation. Mr. Brett will work with both buy- and sell-side and will have responsibility to establish partnerships with leading technology, market data and analytics vendors in the space.
Prior to joining DataArt, Mr. Brett worked in business development for NET2S Capital Markets consultancy which specialized in Electronic Trading, Risk and Trade Management and Data Management. There he spearheaded a new ethical hacking division and Security Consulting practice, contributing to strategic wins of new key clients. He also managed a series of industry seminars and corporate events for NET2S, securing the company's visibility on the market.
Mr. Brett holds a BA in Business Studies from the University of the West of England.
DataArt announced that it remained profitable in 2009, with two core areas of its strategic focus – advanced software engineering services for key industry domains - performing extremely well. DataArt's Financial Services / Capital Markets Practice grew 15% and added seven new clients, despite the ongoing industry-wide slump.
- Travel & Hospitality Practice, launched in early 2009, added five new clients, including Collette Vacations and EnjoyEngland.com, and created a stable pipeline of work, solidifying the new practice as the second best performing at DataArt. Among other notable 2009 achievements are DataArt's ongoing successful engagements with Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Passlogix, navmii and DPC Data. Overall, DataArt serviced over 70 of its clients and completed over 250 critical system deliveries in 2009.
DataArt was widely recognized by industry associations as one of the leading IT service providers: Global Services named DataArt a top 10 Emerging European Provider for the third year in a row, while IAOP named DataArt World's top 100 provider for the fourth consecutive year, also honoring the company as 2009 Best 20 R&D Company.
DataArt 2010 plans include continuous investment into its most successful areas of expertise - financial services, online travel and mobile solutions practices, and strengthening onsite presence in London, UK.
DataArt today announced it has developed a unique long-distance calling application for innovative UK based communications provider, Setel. Designed to reduce costs for international and satellite calling, the application is the first to let users call globally from mobile devices, with the same number and for the same cost as dialing via their fixed line carrier. Setel selected DataArt for this engagement because of its deep expertise in mobile application development.
Setel serves multinational clients in the shipping and maritime sectors where there’s high demand for reliable, cost-efficient international and satellite calls. The application DataArt developed enables Setel customers to make those calls as easily and affordably as a local one. Users can bypass the costs of using incumbent mobile operators and the hassle of phone cards and international codes. Setel is the only company offering this.
“The mobile application DataArt developed delivers a reliable, high-quality calling platform, with the ease of dialing locally from any geographic region,” said Sebastian Moore, Setel owner. “Our shipping customers rely on mobile communication to stay connected - whether they’re on land or at sea. The degree of accessibility that this application provides easily enables that.”
“With mobile quickly becoming the chosen communication medium among today’s businesses, demand for versatile global calling and mobile application development is growing exponentially,” said Denis Margolin, DataArt’s mobile practice leader. “DataArt’s deep mobile expertise enables Setel to further build upon the high-quality calling experience for its customers, cementing its role as an industry pioneer.”
Deployed to 1000 users in London in June, the product will be launched throughout Europe, the Far East and the Americas within the coming months.
In an industry first, DataArt announced today that it has completed back-end development of GeoLife’s Navmii turn-by-turn navigation application for the iPod touch. Navmii is the first to bring GPS navigation with smart routing, interactive maps and spoken directions to the iPod touch. Navmii for iPhone and the iPod touch will be available in the U.S. this winter.
DataArt matched GeoLife’s Navmii software with PosiMotion’s G-Fi mobile network / GPS router to develop the application, which is now available on the Apple iTunes App Store. The new application uses G-Fi’s satellite GPS for more accurate positioning than standard cellular or Bluetooth triangulation.
“Outside of a GPS manufacturer, it’s very hard – and rare – to find the type of technical expertise in an outsourcing company that’s needed for this type of application,” said Peter Atalla, CEO of GeoLife. “DataArt’s deep expertise in both navigation and LBS technologies made them a natural choice. We’ve worked with DataArt for more than two years on similar projects that required rapid delivery and have consistently been impressed with the level of innovation.”
“Location based services are increasingly playing a role in the mobile sector,” said Eugene Goland, president of DataArt. “Navmii is a leap forward for these technologies, and DataArt plans to further establish itself as a vendor of choice for developing mobile software solutions.”
Navmii will be available in the U.S. for the iPod touch and iPhone within the coming months and is currently available in the UK. iPod touch users will require both Navmii and G-Fi.
DataArt today announced completion of front-end systems and back-end integration development for Plastyc’s iBankUp, a new financial online tool for 18-29-year-olds. This is the latest culmination of working with DataArt to bring innovative financial products to market quickly.
By implementing an AJAX-based GUI and sophisticated back-end protocols for billing and payment fulfillment, DataArt enabled numerous advanced features for iBankUp, including real-time transaction tracking via a single account, on-demand paper check issuance, loyalty rewards, automatic payouts of referral commissions to service ambassadors, mobile access and facebook integration.
“Our mission is to provide better banking at lower costs using technology and lean operations, which DataArt has been critical in supporting,” said Justin Surman, Plastyc CTO. “They’ve helped us stay efficient and build creative services for Generation-Y customers that expect high-performance, constant innovation and reasonable prices.”
Plastyc began working with DataArt in 2006 to develop the UPside Visa® card and UPsidecard.com portal. With iBankUp, Plastyc is moving past traditional prepaid card providers, offering integrated financial management tools.
“Plastyc’s market is so competitive, it’s critical to stay ahead using technologies that deliver innovative products and keep costs down,” said Eugene Goland, DataArt president. “Working with Plastyc allows DataArt developers design and deliver creative, diverse IT architectures. We look forward to expanding this great relationship.”
